Oops: Colts player gives fan glove with wedding ring inside

Indianapolis Colts linebacker Darius Leonard wanted to make a fan happy by giving away a gameworn item, but he never meant to be quite so generous. Included in the gloves he tossed into the Lucas Oil Stadium stands Sunday after a home win over Minnesota was his wedding ring.

That might have had the 2018 NFL AP defensive rookie of the year asking around Monday, “Does anyone know where a certain symbol of my lifetime commitment is?” Fortunately for Leonard, he heard an “I do.”

The happy news came, at least publicly, from a sports journalist related to the young Colts fan who caught Leonard’s gloves. Tyler Brooke shared a photo on Twitter of his step-nephew wearing Leonard’s No. 53 jersey while proudly holding the memorabilia, and he asked for help in reuniting the ring with its rightful owner.

Brooke got a reply from Leonard himself, who added several cryingwith-laughter emoji in tweeting,“I need that.”Brooke subsequently tweeted he believed the matter was being handled, and NFL Network reported the ring “is en route back to (Leonard) in Indianapolis.”

Leonard, 25, was married to Kayla Leonard, a couple of weeks after the Colts made him a second-round pick out of South Carolina State in 2018. The two go back to their childhoods in a small town. The romantic element took some time, though, with Leonard saying Kayla“turned me down” in the sixth grade before warming to him in the 11th grade.

Leonard made a major splash as a rookie and earned Pro Bowl honors after the 2019 season. In July, ESPN ranked him as the NFL’s fourth-best off-ball linebacker.